Saturday 19 December 2020

The Kingdom is Ours rules test

 Both Steve and I have picked up copies of these rules recently and although we are quite happy with how our in house version of Pike and Shotte works, we thought we would have a look at them to see if there were any useful mechanisms we could perhaps use.


The rules are described as fast play so we expected a fairly straightforward structure with a minimum of table checking and the quick resolution of shooting and combat.   There is quite a bit of variability built into the rules; you roll 2d6 to establish the quality of each unit, (except guns which always begin as 'good') and the required score for a particular quality varies for early war (1642/3) and late war (1644/5).  As with Pike and Shotte the ability of the commander is also diced for; the more able he is, the more commands he can issue each turn.  For our game Steve set up a simple terrain and one tercio per side; a tercio has 3 infantry units, 2 of cavalry and a gun.


The view from behind the Parliamentary lines, the objective is to control the crossroads.  Each side has a number of dice of a particular colour.  They place a total of dice into a bag or pot equal to the number of units, plus the number of dice dependent on the quality of the commander.  In addition, an extra dice of a different colour is put in the bag/pot; when this is drawn the turn ends.  Dice are drawn in turn, the colour denoting which army can try and carry out an order.  It is possible to issue up to three orders to a single unit.

Well, things started fairly slowly, the distance a unit moves is dependent on the total on a number of d6, 2 for infantry, (3 if charging), or 4 for cavalry (5 if charging).  This does lead to difficulty trying to co-ordinate an attack.  In addition, units outside the command radius of the general will need to dice to see if they receive the order, with only one commander this can lead to some units failing to move at all, as happened to us.  Once the dice to end the turn is drawn, action ceases and then the 'random events' phase starts.  A d10 is thrown for every unit in turn, plus the general, if it comes up 9 or 0 then two d10 are thrown and the total checked against an events table.  With 6 units, plus the general and a 1 in 5 chance of getting a 9 or 0, on average at least 1 of your units is going to be affected.  As you would expect some events are positive, other less so.  Ammunition, status (ordered/disordered) and position can all change.

Shooting is a two or three three stage process, establish a possible hit, does it inflict a casualty, for mixed units is it pike or shot.  It takes 4 hits to remove a base and this inflicts a morale check.  Melee is similar, establish the number of dice to be rolled, then the number of potential hits, how many count and then, for mixed units, are they pike or shot.

In three hours play we managed almost 4 turns (one of which involved only 4 or 5 units moving) and although it was a first attempt and over skype, it was hardly 'fast play'.   We felt that the influence of the  random events phase was too strong.  One turn, both commanders had to move a full move backwards, which took most of the army out of command radius.  There are quite a lot of tables to check for various phases and the playsheet runs to 5 pages in the book.  The main drawback however was the need for a 'unit tracker' for each unit.

Overall, we were not favourably impressed with the rules on this first run through.  They had some interesting ideas, for example only finding out your ammunition level after your first volley.  However, the basic things like firing and melee are 'clunky' and we felt that Pike and Shotte fitted our 'style' better.  We will try The Kingdom is Ours again, just to be fair to them, but they face an uphill struggle.


Monday 14 December 2020

Return to the low countries

For this weeks game Steve and I returned to the Grand Alliance.  It was a fairly simple scenario with both armies trying to control an area of high ground. 


As you can see it is a symmetrical battlefield, with two low hills, a marsh and two streams issuing from the marsh.  Although the photo suggests otherwise, the two hills are equal distances from the side of the table. Crossing the stream may cause disorder (impassable to artillery) and the marsh was impassable to all troops).  The objective for both commanders was to take control of both hills.  Each force consisted of two brigades of infantry (each of 4 battalions), one brigade of horse (4 regiments) and a light gun. The forces would enter from the two short table edges and dice for point of entry, (1/2 left, 3/4 centre, 5/6 right).  For our game the dice decreed that Steve would enter from his right and I would enter from my left, ie facing each other at the top of the photo above.  

The Comte de Salle Forde commanded the French force and ordered his cavalry forward towards the stream, with his first infantry brigade, accompanied by the artillery, following slowly behind.   Graf von Grommit also advanced his cavalry, but halted short of the stream, hoping any attempt by the French cavalry to cross the stream would cause disorder and give him the advantage in a subsequent melee.  The Chevalier D'Estree commanding the French cavalry was not going to be discouraged by the stream, he ordered the leading units to charge.  Regiment Toulouse charged regiment Erbach who stood their ground and fired their pistols at the approaching French cavalry.  Toulouse managed to cross the stream without becoming disordered and crashed into their stationary opponents.  Erbach were thrown back by the impetus of the French and fell back through their supports, regiment Fugger.   Fugger managed to hold their ground against Toulouse and the melee continued.

D'Estree's cavalry attack

To the left of regiment Toulouse, regiment Talmont charged across the stream. Their opponents, the Veningen Gendarmes, having more space to manoeuvre then Erbach, counter-charged.  However, the result was still the same, the allied cavalry were thrown back by their French opponents.  Regiment Talmont now swept forward into the unit of British cavalry, which after a brief struggle, suffered the same fate as the Veningen Gendarmes and was forced to fall back.  Only the need to rally prevented Talmont from pressing home their advantage.

Talmont's successful charge

Where were the infantry?  Grommit's first brigade was slow to appear, but eventually the mixed Anglo-Danish brigade under the command of Brigadier Golz began to move forward. Golz's orders were to secure the nearest hill and his troops moved around the cavalry and headed in that direction.  Not being a native English or Danish speaker his commands were not always carried out promptly and progress was slow, especially when the success of d'Estree's cavalry forced the infantry to deploy into line ready to fire in support of their own cavalry.
                         

Brigade Golz advances

On the French side, Salle Forde's leading brigade had now reached the hill on the French side of the marsh and was beginning to deploy, any Allied troops appearing on the opposite hill would get a warm reception.  Behind them, the leading battalions of the second French brigade began to make their way towards the French left.

The French occupy one of the hills


A brief lull in the cavalry battle had taken place as both sides reformed following the earlier melees.  Erbach were the first to reform and they attacked Toulouse who were still rallying.  Now it was the French who had to fall back and Erbach pressed forward.  However, crossing the stream  disordered them and their charge lost its impetus.  The French cavalry held their ground and infantry regiment d'Humieres moved up on their flank as support and also to threaten any supporting allied cavalry with musketry.  After a prolonged struggle Erbach had to fall back.  To the left the regiment of Spanish horse in French service had charged the Veningen Gendarmes, but had been repulsed.  Regiment Talmont had attacked one of Golz's infantry battalions, but had been driven back with heavy losses.  Once again a lull occurred in the cavalry battle and the infantry now made their presence felt.

The Spanish horse driven off

Erle's regiment had now reached the top of the hill facing the French infantry and began a musketry duel with the regiments facing it.  Erle were helped by musketry from the second British battalion, but the second Danish battalion had lagged far behind and was still some way from the hill, as was the Allied artillery.  Even with the disparity of numbers the Allied infantry were managing to maintain their position, but the arrival of the second infantry brigade was becoming vital.  Von Grommit was also becoming anxious as to the whereabouts of his infantry, but thankfully the Hessian brigade at last appeared and was directed towards the right flank to counter the French move in that direction. To relieve some of the pressure on the Allied centre, Von Grommit oredered the  Veningen Gendarmes to charge the d'Humieres regiment which had crossed the stream.  The Allied cavalry charge had some success, but not enough to break their opponents and the melee continued.  Supports arrived for the beleaguered French infantry and they gradually gained the upper hand; forcing the Gendarmes to fall back.


The Veningen Gendarmes charge...


...and are repulsed

The focus of the action now switched to the French left.  Salle Forde's second infantry brigade and advanced far enough to threaten the flank of Erle's regiment.  The only unit which could offer direct support were the second unit of Danish infantry and they fired volleys at regiment Solre who  were on the left of the front line.  It was not enough to disrupt the French and four battalions (Solre, Bavaria, Languedoc and Toulouse) concentrated their fire on Erle's.  The volleys swept through the regiment's ranks inflicting horrific casualties.  No unit could be expected to stand such punishment and the surviving redcoats ran back down the hill towards their own lines.                                        

The French infantry move into position

Fire!..
Von Grommit had been leading the reformed British cavalry over to the Allied right to threaten the French flanking manoeuvre, but he found himself trying to rally both Erle's regiment and also the Danes, who, despite having had no casualties themselves had fallen back as they saw Erle's men running towards them.  The two units were blocking the way for the cavalry and also the Hessian brigade.
  
Von Grommit tries to restore some semblance of order
                                         
 Unfortunately at this point Steve and I ran out of time.  As things stood, the French were in by far the stronger position.  One hill was secured and the second was at their mercy.  The French right was looking secure and their cavalry was almost ready to resume the attack.
                                      

The closing position
                                             

Monday 7 December 2020

Willoughby Field : a scenario for Pike and Shotte

Steve set up this scenario for our latest game.  The action takes place in the summer of 1648.  A mixed Royalist force under Sir Philip Monckton (approximately 500 strong,)had been forced to lead Pontefract as the town could not support both his troops and the Royalist garrison.  Forced to live off the land, the Royalists had moved through North Lincolnshire and eventually captured Lincoln.  There had been little resistance as Parliament had its hands full trying to suppress Royalist risings in the South East of England and South Wales.  This threat needed to be nullified and Sire Edward Rossiter was placed in command of the Parliamentary forces to defend the Midlands.  Trained troops were in short supply and all that was to hand were the locally raised cavalry who were no more than raw levies.  Gathering together what was available (c500 horse), Rossiter headed north arriving at Lincoln to find that the Royalists had already left, moving towards Gainsborough.  Here, Monckton found his progress blocked by c600 horse and dragoons from Yorkshire, so he headed back south west towards Nottingham, hoping to draw reinforcements from the Midlands Royalists. Pursued by Rossiter, Monckton decided to make a stand at Willoughby, about 6 miles from Nottingham.  Rossiter's force was all cavalry, mostly rated as raw.  Monckton had four units of commanded shot which he deployed in support of his cavalry.  A complication for the  Royalists is that they are accompanied by supply wagons which they must get off the field safely.

The starting position, Rossiter's forces nearest the camera

Rossiter needs to attack.  Inflicting heavy casualties on the Royalists would constitute a minor victory, capturing the wagons and inflicting heavy casualties a major victory.  For Monckton he needs to inflict sufficient casualties on the Parliamentarians to dissuade them from pursuing him and preserve his supply wagons.

Rossiter and Hacker ready to attack

Monckton with Byron's foot in support

As you can imagine, with all this cavalry the action was rather confused, with units attacking, falling back and rallying and then attempting to attack again.  To the left of the road, the leading units of Hacker's brigade (on the extreme left) attempted to charge the enemy.  One unit did charge, but misjudged the distance and ended up some way short of its target.  As a result it was shot at by the supporting Royalist musketeers, became disordered and was then charged  by the Royalist horse.  The unit to its right had failed their command test so did not move, but a unit in the second line was able to move forward, but not far enough to support their colleagues.  In the subsequent melee, the Royalists prevailed and the Parliamentary horse routed back, disordering their colleagues who were then hit by the pursuing Royalists.  This second unit also lost heavily and routed, leaving Rossiter to ponder whether just letting the Royalists escape may have been a better option.

First round to Monckton's horse

Rossiter's own brigade and that of White on the right had both failed to move.  White's objective was to drive off Stanhope's horse and then capture the wagons, but his failure to move was not too serious as the Royalist wagon master was slow to get his men and wagons moving.

Hacker's brigade was given a brief respite as the successful Royalist horse had suffered heavy enough casualties to prevent it charging again as it needed to rally.  Before it could do so, one of Hacker's remaining units charged and caught it at the halt. The Royalists managed to hold their ground and gave time for another of Monckton's units to add their weight to the melee.  Hacker had been allocated the reserve horse by Rossiter and he sent one of these into the melee as well.  Rossiter had decided that he needed to drive off Byron's foot to ease the way for his horse.  With no pikemen, the Royalist musketeers were vulnerable to horse, but once again not appreciating the distance to the enemy cost the Parliamentary horse dear.  As they closed the horse took a devastating volley which cooled their ardour.  Nevertheless they managed to come to blows, but they could not break the foot, both sides having to fall back to rally.  This left Rossiter's men vulnerable to a volley from the second of Byron's units which forced them back still further.

Another Royalist success

 Meanwhile, White had at last managed to get his units moving and taken on Stanhope's horse.  Like the action on the other flank, the advantage swung back and forth.  Stanhope's men got the better of the first engagement, but that unit was routed by a second of White's units.  Other units joined in, the mass of swirling horsemen meant that Stanhope's detachment of musketeers were unable to get a clear shot.  While the cavalry melee continued, the Royalist wagons had at last begun to make their ponderous progress towards the road to Loughborough.  White could see his chance of capturing the wagons disappearing and rather than commit his final unit to the melee, he sent it towards the wagons.  Fortunately for the Royalist cause, Stanhope had also retained one unit in reserve and this intercepted the Parliamentarians just as they thought they had the wagons at their mercy.  The Royalist horse saved the day, routing their opponents and removing the threat to the wagons, at least for the moment.

Rossiter was becoming concerned at his losses; already two units from Hacker's brigade had routed and now a third headed back towards Gainsborough.  To make matters worse, the pursuing Royalists had caught one of the reserve units which had failed to deploy into line after moving to the left in column.  A unit from his own brigade had routed, which meant that half his force was now hors de combat.  In addition three of the remaining units were in need of rallying.  On the other side of the hill Monckton was also concerned.  Although his men had fought well, losses had been heavy and the long-running melee which had consumed four units (two from each side) eventually ended in favour of Parliament, resulting in the Royalist participants routing.

Parliamentarian numbers at last prevail

On the Royalist left, Stanhope's force was crumbling.  Worn down by their losses, the Royalist horse were one by one routed.  Stanhope did manage to rally the units, but all were shadows of their former selves.  Fortunately the Royalist musketeers now played their part, firing volleys to rout Parliamentary units already shaken by their combat.  White's men just did not have the strength to break through the thin lines facing them to reach the wagons.

Rossiter was also beginning to accept he would not be able to drive off the forces facing him.  Even if he disposed of the cavalry, he would struggle to displace the commanded shot from behind hedges.  All he could do was to watch the battered Royalist force fall back towards Loughborough though it would be a long time before they would have the strength to take the field again.